Welcome to the PokéCommunity!

Hi there! Thanks for visiting PokéCommunity. We’re a group of Pokémon fans dedicated to providing the best place on the Internet for discussing ideas and sharing fan-made content. Welcome! We’re glad you’re here.

In order to join our community we need you to create an account with us. Doing so will allow you to make posts, submit and view fan art and fan fiction, download fan-made games, and much more. It’s quick and easy; just click here and follow the instructions.

PGM is all set for February. This month, we're playing through a game known as Eevee's Tile Trial. If you wish to earn rewards, please head over to our event thread by clicking on the provided link and give yourself a shot at the game!

Hey Unregistered! How fast can you game? The Marathon II is up and running in Video Game's - compete against your friends to see how quickly you can complete sixty intense in-game challenges. See you there!

Pokémon Gaming CentralFor topics that aren't necessarily restricted to one game, Pokémon Gaming Central ranges from comparing and contrasting the differences in the gaming generations to discussing the gaming franchise as a whole.

Since Gen II we've had the burden pleasure of having roaming Pokémon, not just any Pokémon roam, though; only a specific few, that are legends might I add, roam throughout the regions, they are; Suicune, Entei, Raikou (Gen II, III and IV), Latios and Latias (Gen III and IV), Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Cresselia and Mesprit (Gen IV) and Tornadus and Thundurus (Gen V)

So, did you like the feature of roaming Pokémon? Do you want it brought back in Gen VI? What would you change about them? Would you perhaps make it so paralysis and sleep would make them stay in the battle until they wake up? What was your favourite method of capturing them?

As for me; I didn't really enjoy the feature, mainly because a lot of the time I forgot about them and just randomly they'd pop up and I'd have no way of capturing it and then I'd go after it and spend hours on it. :( I personally wouldn't want it brought back in Gen VI mainly because I just didn't like it, lol; I'm glad it never appeared in BW2; however if it did come back I'd like it so the legends who were roaming had a slightly higher capture rate because running around for hours on end trying to catch it whilst only having a small chance is really annoying and time consuming tbh.

Favourite method was to go into the grass where they were, once I'd eventually caught up that is, use a repel and encounter them and then beat them until they're red and paralyzed.

Bonus Question: Do you think GF should have paid more attention to the two glitches that appeared in Gen III's dog (and Lati) roamers? For those that don't know there are two glitches; one that affects the roamers in RS and FRLG this glitch makes it so the roamers will have extremely low IV's and the other is purely for FRLG where if the player encounters Entei or Raikou they can Roar to flee; if they do they will disappear from the game forever. Emerald is unaffected by any of this.

*Suicune doesn't roam as such in some of the games, you simply go to different places where he is and then eventually he'll show up at a spot and stay there.

I only went after and caught Thundurus in White a while back. I was really annoyed that it was able to flee while asleep, what the..? On the plus side, it's a good thing that at least it kept the damage, so at first I just hit and let it flee, then when it's HP was low enough, I tried putting it to sleep, which obviously didn't work. In the end, I used Ariados with Spider Web to keep it from fleeing, and in the end caught, I can't really remember the details though.

I don't know, I thought it was fun? But then again, that's my only experience with a roaming Pokemon.

I once cried over trying to get Entei during my childhood days. He was my fave legendary (still tied at #1 along with Zapdos and Articuno) and I've encountered him more than like 20+ times randomly already (most of them being on a separate Sneasel hunt, unknowing it only appeared at night ). So anyway, determined for my "complete the pokedex!" goal, I searched for him endlessly (a whole day), slowly getting frustrated and running into tears... due to him roaring me away all the time. Until poof, again he popped out of nowhere! I knew this was my last straw for sanity, but I caught him that night. I was so happy, I almost slammed my gameboy color hard enough to slightly move the battery inside the cartridge, corrupting my save. Good thing it didn't happen. Almost.

...yes, i didn't know the sweet-scent/repel trick by then. I was simply just "grassing" Route 38 nonstop until I finally found him. Gen 2... I still love you. I will. Forever.

Anyway, no. I never really liked it. However, it was still undeniably pretty awesome to randomly encounter that legendary pokemon. I always get that feeling that I was really lucky to even see them. Wish same could be said for Genesect, Meloetta and the rest. I wouldn't really mind if they were roaming. Remove the sweet scent/repel trick to make it a bit more thrilling experience.

__________________

You could easily teach yourself if you observe the world closely." - EliseSquish, squish, squish. Goes the bug under your foot.Squish, squish, squish. I'm telling you not to look.

Well, I always found it really easy to trick the game into landing the legendary right where I wanted it -- I would sit at the border between two different places (Usually two routes) and check my Pokedex. It would tell me where the legendary currently was. I would then flit between the two places, passing the border until the legendary was in one of the areas.

I sort of found out the fact that the legendaries move to another location every time you move to a new area by complete accident -- I think it might even have had something to do with Gen IV's Poketch, which made things beyond convenient when hunting for those cursed roamers. I was more than shocked to find out that the Gen V roamers still followed the same rule.

So, in my opinion, I really have no problem with it. It gives Pokemon a new variable, since not every Pokemon just sits waiting for you at the end of every cave. It's sometimes exciting to run across this rare beast when you aren't even looking for it, but I can certainly understand the pain for those who spend so much time looking around for them.

I actually enjoy tracking down and capturing roamers. I'd use the method the above poster mentioned. In fact, I'd wish there were MORE roaming legendary Pokemon! Platinum as I recall, has had the most.

The marking map app was extremely convenient in Platinum, it's a shame I had to keep opening the Pokegear to track Entei, Raikou, Latias and Latios...
I hope it returns in X & Y, however hopefully with a marking map app of some sort instead of checking up the Pokedex/gear all the time.

ah the most annoying part of the game the roamers pokemon, anytime you would get to the route they were in they would move. if you ask me it is not the best addition to the game and I would not cry if it when away,

Honestly, I never really cared for Roaming Pokemon too much so wouldn't have a meltdown if they weren't included in Generation VI, but I would welcome them as a post-game challenge. If they were included, it'd have to be simpler IMO to track, like in DPPt, rather than opening the Pokedex/Pokegear every time you change location, or having to check the gates in Gen V.

P.S I never caught those pesky Roaming Dogs, Raikou and Entei, in any Pokemon game I own.

Roaming legendaries are the most difficult to capture, and thus, I feel really achieved after catching them. I think the concept of roaming legendaries is cool, but I feel like it's becoming a forced tradition.

Like, what was up with Mesprit and Cresselia roaming, yet Azelf and Uxie not? Also, I don't get why the Regi's would be running around sinnoh's map like crazy. Unlike wildcats/dogs, golems imply lack of mobility.

Cresselia and Moltres were really annoying to catch in Platinum. In HeartGold I met Raikou right after defeating Morty, but you need to be extremely lucky to catch it at full health, so of course I couldn't get it so early...

I have mixed feelings about it. Roaming Pokemon are a pain for sure, but they provide a unique challenge to track down. Still I was very happy on Crystal when Suicune (my favorite legendary) could be battled normally. However, tracking down roamers can be fun, and always rewarding.

I think it would be cool to have this in future games: I could also see it implemented in a place like the Safari Zone (on a smaller scale) as a means of tracking down rare Pokemon in a time limit.

Yeah. It initially irritated me when I couldnt' get Latios (had used my Master Ball) but now I find it fun - as long as I have a Wobbuffet, as a lot of roamers fly so Dugtrio is useless.

Do you want it brought back in Gen VI?

Probs not going to play Gen VI (still haven't bought B2W2), but I don't not want it, if that makes any sense. But it would be a nice gimmick to set them apart if there weren't any roamers in X & Y (although I think they'll be unique enough anyway).

What would you change about them?

The IV glitch - I can't get a good Latios because of it.

Would you perhaps make it so paralysis and sleep would make them stay in the battle until they wake up?

Yeah that'd be cool.

What was your favourite method of capturing them?

Weaken them through numerous encounters, stock up on poké balls, stick Wobbuffett at the front of my party and go crazy :)

Bonus Question: Do you think GF should have paid more attention to the two glitches that appeared in Gen III's dog (and Lati) roamers? For those that don't know there are two glitches; one that affects the roamers in RS and FRLG this glitch makes it so the roamers will have extremely low IV's and the other is purely for FRLG where if the player encounters Entei or Raikou they can Roar to flee; if they do they will disappear from the game forever. Emerald is unaffected by any of this.

The IV glitch is irritating, but I don't see how they could've fixed it. Many pokémon players such as myself at the time, didn't know or care about it.
Didn't know about the Roar one, suspected it though. That should've been fixed. At least you can catch Lati@s.

So, did you like the feature of roaming Pokémon?
Absolutely not. Catching roamers always seemed like such a chore to me. It was more annoying than fun, so I never bothered except with Latias/Latios in SoulSilver because I really like the Eon pokémon. With the others, if I find it, I'll either throw any ball I have and hope for the best or just attack it.

Do you want it brought back in Gen VI?
I'm indifferent about it. If it's back, cool for the people who like. Unless the roamers are really cool, I won't bother trying to catch them.

What would you change about them? Would you perhaps make it so paralysis and sleep would make them stay in the battle until they wake up?
That's most likely what I would do. I don't understand how a paralyzed/sleeping pokémon can flee from a fight. If I could paralyze them or put them to sleep it wouldn't be as bad. I really don't feel like going out and catching a pokémon that can trap one in a fight, so if I could use moves I already have I would enjoy it a lot more.

What was your favorite method of capturing them?
Throw a ball and hope for the best?

No, I absolutely hate this feature. The combination of, well, roaming, and ending the battle ASAP by roaring or running away really irritates me. I am one of the crazy people who try to complete the National Dex, so it's not something I can just shrug off.

Do you want it brought back in Gen VI?

No.

What would you change about them?

If I had a choice, I would at least remove the roaming Pokémon's ability to run away or Roar, finding them once is painful enough as it is, I hate having to do that over and over again.

Or, as an alternative, the game should make available as many Master Balls as there are roaming Pokémon.

But, IMHO, Black 2/White 2 already did the best possible thing to the roaming Pokémon: they removed them.

Would you perhaps make it so paralysis and sleep would make them stay in the battle until they wake up?

As I said, I would make them completely unable to escape on their own no matter the status.

What was your favourite method of capturing them?

Throwing the Master Ball.

Bonus Question: Do you think GF should have paid more attention to the two glitches that appeared in Gen III's dog (and Lati) roamers? For those that don't know there are two glitches; one that affects the roamers in RS and FRLG this glitch makes it so the roamers will have extremely low IV's and the other is purely for FRLG where if the player encounters Entei or Raikou they can Roar to flee; if they do they will disappear from the game forever. Emerald is unaffected by any of this.

I never cared about EV/IV as I don't fight online, and by the time I catch the roaming legendaries, my Pokémon are already very strong. I only catch the roaming legendaries to complete the Pokédex.

The Roar glitch is a bummer for sure, but if you don't care about completing National Pokédex or have Pokémon Colosseum (where you can catch Raikou, Entei and Suicune in one playthrough) it's not critical. Also, using the Master Ball to catch the roamer renders this point moot.

Roaming Pokemon make my blood pressure soar. I spent ages working on catching Latias in Sapphire, got it's HP down to 2 or 3, and literally dozens of times, it popped out of the pokeball regardless. I never did catch it, and I haven't gone out of my way to catch a roaming Pokemon since. I'm not the biggest fan of catching legendary pokemon anyway, but Latias is one of my favorite pokemon, so I made an exception.

I would make it so that you get at least four or five turns before it flees, instead of only one turn. And agreed, if it's asleep or paralyzed, it should be locked into battle before it can flee. I wouldn't care if they were in the next generation of games, but unless I'm desperate for something to do, I'm not going to bother with them.

The novetly of roaming Pokemon got old fast when I had to search and catch 5 of them all at once on Platinum v.v I would just knock them out so I didn't have to worry about the images on the Poketch screen haha

The PokéCommunity

Meta

Pokémon characters and images belong to The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo. This website is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Creatures, GAMEFREAK, or The Pokémon Company International. We just love Pokémon.